The Mid-Term Review of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) has shown that the project which is jointly implemented by the Federal Government, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), has reached 14,155 farmers in the six participating states.
The Nigerian Country Director of IFAD, Mrs Dede Ekoue while presenting her speech at the Official Launch of the Joint Mid-Term Review Mission of LIFE-ND, said the total cost of the project is $97.8 million, while IFAD contributed $60million.
The participating states include Abia, Cross River, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo.
She said the mid- term review shows the project has made significant progress including an outreach of 14,155 smallholder farmers as against a target of 25,500 representing 55.5 per cent.
Ekoue said the uniqueness of LIFE-ND lies in its innovative incubation approach to youth entrepreneurs taking into account gender
equality.
“The project has engaged 792 mature businesses (enterprise incubators) who are working with the project to create and coach 6,035 new enterprises (incubatees) which, represent gainful jobs for women and youth in Nigeria.
“To boost the achievement of nutrition goal, a total of 2500 community women and youth have been trained on the use and cultivation of bio-fortified planting materials pro vitamin A cassava, brown rice, fruits, orange fleshed sweet potato, and vegetable homestead establishment in over 39 Schools and 150 Incubation Centres to improve nutrition and income generation.
“It is worth noting a total of 6,500 hectares have been acquired to facilitate access of women and youth beneficiaries to land, a critical asset for scaling up agriculture activities
“We are also pleased to report that the assessment conducted shows that over 74% LIFE-ND beneficiaries have reported an increase in profit and hence increased income, which reflects positive impact on poverty”, she noted.
The IFAD Country Director further stated that the progress made by the project where within a context marked by several external challenges which includes, COVID-19, the Ukraine -Russia War, the socio-economic situation and the floods.
Ekoue however, stated that the Mid-Term Review mission represents an opportunity to identify strategies to scale up the results and the impact of the project building on the conclusions of rigorous analyses of the implementation performance and an
assessment of challenges and opportunities in the project and beneficiaries environment.
“This mission is an important participatory exercise that calls for the active contributions of all stakeholders in developing pathways to maximize the impact of the LIFE ND, building on the best practice generated by the project and addressing the challenges faced by the target groups and beneficiaries and leveraging opportunities that are yet to be fully harnessed including digital solutions, and the partnership with Niger Delta Development Commission to scale support to youth and women to help scale up enterprises development, job creation and to foster the transformative growth of
agri-food sector.
“Through this launch, we are inviting all the key stakeholders, states, LGA, beneficiaries, incubators, development partners involved to facilitate the implementation of this Midterm review by contributing to the assessment and by providing recommendations to further enhance the effectiveness, the efficiency and sustainability of the project”, she added.
She commended the Federal Government and the participating states for their moral and financial support towards the success of the project.
In his remarks, the Director Project Coordinating Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Musa Bukar said the Mid-Term review is an excellent platform to look into the journey so far, highlight successes and shortcomings in order to pave way forward towards achieving the overall objective of the project.
He commended the progress made by the project in spite of challenges listed by the Country Director.
“I hope the Mid-Term review will further assess and make recommendations in line with the project design for the phase 2 and phase 1 to overlap, hoping that the phase 2 will commence by next year 2024.
“It is also pertinent for the Mid-Term review to look into the possibility of IFAD funding the three excluded states of Imo, Rivers and Akwa Ibom state directly from the IFAD funds.
“I assure you of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development commitment, corporation and support to IFAD and the project”, he added.
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